Prayer is the intimacy of being honestly human and letting God be God. In this intimacy, we gently learn to trust and open our hearts to God. The Creator and the Spirit’s love are the courage, generosity, and compassion that inspired Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. “Not what I will...

A Portal Into Mystery The common and best-known definition of icons is, “They are windows into mystery.” In short, the result of reading and praying icons is a spiritual experience. In the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, the “window” is plentiful redemption. Where is the entrance point for us...

Recently, I jaunted down memory lane. It started when I tore apart my home office in preparation for a new printer. If you’re like me, every project leads to a larger and more complicated undertaking. And I take after my father, which means that cleaning always involves pitching, so in...

Wendy Barnes began working at Liguori Publications before she even had a driver’s license. During her first year of employment, her mother drove her to work in the morning and her father picked her up in the evening when she couldn’t get a ride from a coworker. “I grew up...

In October 1947, five Redemptorists drove their heavily loaded small truck from Oconomowoc, WI to St. Louis and then twenty miles southwest to the village of Barnhart. There, they turned onto a twisting gravel road, drove under a railroad viaduct and a half-mile up a hill to a plot of...

The apostolate of the pen—and the catching of the fish—were among the orders of the day for Liguori’s pioneers of seven decades past. “Fr. Donald Miller had long cherished the unique notion of a Redemptorist community engaged nearly entirely in the apostolate of the pen. And in the fall of...

In 2017, Liguori Publications celebrates its seventieth anniversary at our location in Liguori, MO. Liguori Publications, a ministry of the Redemptorists, is named after our founder and prolific spiritual author, St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1732). In 1913, the Redemptorists ventured into publishing at our seminary in Oconomowoc, WI. The enterprise began...

Every month, St. Alphonsus gives us practical ways to imitate Christ Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696–1787) was a man of many accomplishments. Ordained to the priesthood at the age of thirty, he was a tireless preacher of the word of God, a popular writer on theological and spiritual topics,...

The Latin root of Cardinal is cardo, meaning “hinge,” or something very important. In the Church, it came to mean “a clergyman of the highest rank, next to the pope.” In early October, Pope Francis named seventeen new cardinals, including American Archbishops Blase J. Cupich of Chicago and Joseph W....

The month of January brings to mind new beginnings, a time of firsts. The root of the Latin word for January (Ianuarius) comes from the Latin word for door (ianua). January, the “door” into the new year, is when we often feel compelled to invoke resolutions on how we will...

I’m always amazed by the bizarre (unique?) “special days” that pop up each month. Take December. There’s National Fritters Day on December 2, Wear Brown Shoes Day (4), International Civil Aviation Day (7), Put On Your Own Shoes Day [who does that the rest of the year?] (6), National Roof...

An adopted child won’t have her mother’s green eyes or her father’s aquiline nose—but she’ll have their hearts; the gift is a two-way exchange. A baby can be made deliberately, with steady and abiding love and a momentary euphoria, or accidentally, with euphoria as the only excuse. But it is impossible...

Understanding the Redemptorist Mission “The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded by St. Alphonsus, is a clerical missionary religious Institute of pontifical right….Its purpose is to follow the example of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, by preaching the word of God to the poor, as he declared of himself: “He...

The Brigittine monks, originally founded in 1370 and “reborn” in 1976, are well-known today for their confections. Editor Elizabeth Herzing interviews one of the monks, Br. Steven Vargo, about the history and mission of the Oregon-based order. Q. Please provide a brief history of the Brigittine monks and their mission....

For me, November serves up a heaping portion of gratitude along with a side of gloom. In preparing to gather together with loved ones around a table filled with family favorites, I’m acutely aware of all that I have to be thankful for. With that comes an equal sentient of...

Christmas greetings to you and your family! We invite you to celebrate the birth of Jesus with the gift of Liguorian. Give your loved one the gift of hope, inspiration, and spiritual guidance that will be cherished all year long. Each subscription now includes both print and FREE access to...

September is a season of change. We anticipate the shifting colors of fall foliage. The September equinox, which occurs this year on September 22, signifies the official onset of fall and shortening days. Autumn is my favorite season—I look forward to the cooling temperatures, the smell of savory spices, and...

How one biblical account transcends centuries and enlightens a man in his last days Bernie Ronan, PhD I say that we are wound With mercy round and round As if with air… —Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ The day Jesus of Nazareth walked into the tax collector’s den and called Matthew...

Liguorian earns accolades in 8 different categories, including first place for “General Excellence: National General Interest Magazine” at the 2016 Catholic Media Conference. Below is a complete list of Liguorian winners • Best Seasonal Issue, First Place, “Savoring the Season: Moving through Advent” (December 2015). The judged...